Twitter gets mobile phone users to surf the web

Micro-blogging site Twitter is having a positive effect on the number of consumers using their mobile phone to access the web, says Novarra.

Research by the internet mobility company revealed that page views of Twitter from handsets increased by 3,500 percent in the first half of 2009.

Novarra also said that page views of URL shortening services bit.ly and tinyurl.com grew by 1,068 percent this year.

"The growth in mobile traffic to sites that shorten URLs demonstrates that Twitter is a great viral tool for exposing consumers to new and interesting content, Randy Cavaiani, vice president of marketing at Novarra.

"Much of the content shared this way is from 'long tail' sites that are personally relevant and important to consumers and their circle of friends."

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